1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates primarily to a system which automatically feeds lead bullets to a die through which they are sized and simultaneously lubricated.
2. Description of Prior Art
In prior art, a machine of very old design, unpatented, is used to size and lubricate lead bullets. The old machine was driven by a constant speed electric motor through a V-belt. The shaft then drove a punch, a transfer bar, and the lubricating mechanism. The transfer bar, which had a single bullet receiving hole, reciprocated so that the bullet receiving hole alternately was under a feed tube, on one end of the reciprocating stroke, and over the die and under the punch at the other end of the reciprocating stroke. The mechanism driving the transfer bar limited the speed of the machine considerably. The lubricating means consisted of two spring loaded levers, actuated by a cam on the shaft. One of the spring loaded levers operated a lubricating piston in a cylinder which simply was driven in a linear shuttle motion, and the other spring loaded arm operated a lubricant feed value. The lubricating mechanism provided essentially no dwell time at the ends of piston travel, thus the lubricant had little opportunity to feed in the piston cylinder, nor time to be forced from the cylinder to ports in the die to lubricate the bullet. Consequently, the quality of lubrication of the bullets was poor and excess lubricant frequently was discharged into the die causing a dirty messy work area underneath the machine.